MALAWI – Two years ago, Pastor Samuel Kasakatira of Marka, Malawi (on the border of Mozambique) received a visitor with a strange story. Thomas was a Muslim, having married the daughter of the local Imam (a Muslim leader) who serves in the mosque at Marka. He himself was not a loyal follower of Allah due to his own struggles with alcoholism, but he refused to darken the doorway of the infidels who attended the Christian church.
One night, Thomas had a dream of a man he had never seen before. With a kind yet authoritative voice, this man directed Thomas to bring his children to the church pastored by Samuel Kasakatira. He awakened from the dream fully convicted to follow the directives given to him, and that same day went to visit Pastor Samuel. When he was warmly received, he explained the dream to his host and further requested permission for his children to attend Samuel’s church.
The children gladly came to the church. They made friends within the large youth group and immediately took part in Sunday school, the youth choir and other youth-related events. When the good news of salvation and eternal life in Jesus Christ was explained, they readily gave their lives to the Lord and were baptized. Meanwhile, their father remained at home on Sundays and indulged in alcohol.
Recently Eunice, his eldest child, asked her father, “Why do you send us to church while you yourself stay at home and drink?” Thomas was convicted to attend church with his children. On Sunday, May 11, he walked with his children to church. The message of the gospel became clear to him and when the invitation came to surrender his life to Jesus Christ, he went forward in repentance and became a new-born believer. On May 18, he joined a group of believers who traveled to Mandua, Mozambique, and shared his testimony with the church there of how the Lord Jesus had changed his life.
Thank God for his call, a Christian church and the love of a child.
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).
